RattlingtheCage by Ann Cory Page B

throbbed
and she needed sleep. “I went for a walk.”
    “All night?”
    The barrage of questions provoked her annoyance. “What’s it
to you? I’ll come and go as I please. This is my place.”
    His boots slid from the table to the floor. “Don’t talk to
me like that, it confuses me. I wish you’d quit playing hard to get all the
damn time.”
    For a moment she swore the trailer tipped. Montana pressed
her palms to the door to stay steady. “You got rocks for brains? It’s not
playing hard to get since I’m not interested. I’ve told you, I don’t have
feelings for you, and never will. When will you listen?”
    “When you quit messing around and tell me you’ll be my
wife.” His face flushed. “I know you don’t really mean what you say.”
    Again the trailer tipped. “Wait a sec, back things up. You
want to know when I’ll be your wife?”
    “Yep.”
    “Tell you what. When hell freezes over, you come on back and
propose.”
    He stood and his body cast a long shadow against the light.
“Why you gotta be like that? I like you somethin’ fierce. It’s not right
talkin’ to me the way you do.”
    “This is my house and I’ll talk the way I want.” She hoped
he didn’t hear the waver in her voice.
    Garvey smiled with a mouthful of smug. “It ain’t paid for
yet, so, it ain’t yours.”
    “Fuck off.”
    He pointed toward her. “There you go again.”
    Montana aimed her thumb at the door. “Out.”
    “After I have a look around.”
    She paused. Where was this going? “For what?”
    “To make sure all’s the way it should be.”
    Her lips pursed. “You being here without my permission isn’t
the way it should be at all.”
    “I see that fire in yer eyes. Damn if you ain’t teasing me.”
    She blinked. Nothing she said had got through his dense
brain. “I’m very serious. Go.”
    “You been seeing that stranger?”
    Montana shifted her weight. He was fishing. “There was some
drifter in, had a drink or two. Why?”
    “Sheriff says he’s trouble.” He took a step toward her.
“What do you have to say about that?”
    She dropped her voice. “I couldn’t care less about some
stupid stranger.”
    “You sure you didn’t flirt with him?”
    Garvey continued forward, his eyes greedy.
    She stepped back and her heel hit the door. “I didn’t.”
    “You probably shook them titties at him. No one can resist
your sweet cherry pits.”
    The trailer shrank around his giant form. She wet her lips.
Somehow she’d swallowed her voice.
    “Do they make you as hot as you make me?”
    A bitter taste filled her mouth. “I don’t feel anything for
you.”
    He unbuckled his belt and a sick feeling rose in her
stomach.
    “If you raised that skirt and pulled down those panties
you’d feel something. You’d feel a lot.”
    “Please leave.”
    “I’m not ready.”
    Her eyes watered from his cigarette and beer breath against
her face. “I’m asking nice.”
    “You sure are. Give me ten minutes and you’ll be glad you
did.”
    She’d seen Garvey drunk, but never this forward. “Why are
you acting like this?”
    “Being a nice guy don’t work, so I’m gonna take what I
want.”
    Montana slid her hand to the doorknob. In the small space
he’d left her, she twisted her body and went to pull open the door. Garvey’s
arms wrapped tight around her waist.
    “Let go,” she cried.
    He dragged her across the room and wrestled her to the sofa.
The pillows fell around her face, smothering her.
    “Garvey, don’t do this!”
    “Hush, now. You’re gonna love it. I promise.”

Chapter Ten
     
    Lawson rounded the corner and stopped to rehearse his
apology. Montana’s trailer sat up ahead surrounded by a mess of trees. Not what
he considered safe for a young woman who lived alone. But he reminded himself
that her safety didn’t concern him.
    He was headed to her door when he noticed the police car.
He’d be pissed if she went behind his back and told Deputy Gutless the truth of
his